If you thought 2019 was good, just wait

It has only been a year, but we’ve been through a lot together.

When we launched the New Old North in 2019, we had several goals in mind. But first and foremost, we felt this community deserved a new brand of journalism — a voice that would both celebrate the many things that make Wayne County special and one that was unafraid to call out the many elephants that occupy board rooms and council chambers across our community.

So, as we move into 2020, we thought we would take a moment to pause to reminisce — and to make a promise.

We are still here for this community. And we will be here as the new decade dawns. Wayne County is that important.

Over the last year, the New Old North has been a voice for this county and its watchdog. And we will let nothing stop us from continuing that vigilance into the future.

In 2019, we kept watch on the appalling rhetoric and the irresponsible posturing of some members of the Goldsboro City Council. We filed records requests, released documents, shared our thoughts on controversial topics and listened to what you had to say about the future of your community.

We broke stories about questionable behavior among leaders of local schools and local government.

We brought you news about decisions that were made that affected your children and education in Wayne County, and made sure you had access to the facts so you could have your say about important topics like redistricting.

We were not afraid to talk about the hard things — we considered it our responsibility.

And we did it in a timely fashion.

Our hope is that some of what we have written has made you think and encouraged you to take a more active role in the future of your community.

That type of critical thinking will be as important as ever as the new year dawns.

But we did more than just talk about the controversies.

We celebrated this community, too.

We were there for some really great moments.

Like when Charles B. Aycock baseball player Adam Brogden took the mound shortly after his mother’s death or when the Goldsboro and Eastern Wayne High School marching bands put an end to a bitter rivalry and performed together for the first time in history.

We know how important it is to celebrate moments like those — and the people who are the lifeblood of this county.

So, we will continue sharing those stories in words, photographs and video reports in 2020.

And if you haven’t seen it yet — and thousands of you have — please check out our sister publication, “Eastbound and Downtown.”

There you will find a publication that is rich, full of quality writing and photography and a real tribute to the life and people in this community.

We love sharing it with you each quarter — and have even bigger plans for it in the coming months. You won’t want to miss it.

When we launched the New Old North, we were confident that you would love it, but we did not expect the meteoric rise.

More than 73,000 unique visitors checked out our site in 2019 and our stories were viewed a combined 4 million times.

Our readers come from all backgrounds — including the hundreds of teenagers who are following our sports coverage on Instagram — and it seems as though every time we post a link to one of our stories on our Facebook page, it spreads, like wildfire, across the county and beyond.

And we are continuing to grow every day.

It’s humbling, but when we think about it, it’s not so hard to explain.

In this day of controversy and distrust, we think people are looking for a site and publication that are not afraid to say what needs to be said — with heart, soul and honesty.

And we are proud to deliver just that kind of voice.

We are here for this community and you have let us know that you want us here. So, for that, we thank you.

And we would be remiss if we did not thank someone else, too.

A new venture like the New Old North and “Eastbound and Downtown” is a risk.

We knew this community deserved something special — something out of the ordinary.

So, we went big and put quality first.

It was a chance we felt was worth taking.

But we did not take those first steps alone.

We would not be where we are today were it not for the advertisers who took a chance on our vision.

Please support them. They have helped make this new venture possible.

And just in case you were wondering, we have big plans for 2020.

Talented new journalists who share our vision will join our ranks to help us expand our coverage.

Several investigations we launched last year will publish.

We will be watching those currently serving and those who recently filed for upcoming elections for significant seats on the county commission and school board as we did in 2019, and we will continue to call out irresponsibility, self-indulgent prattle and any self-serving and dangerous comments that don’t even have a glimmer of truth.

That’s what you do when your first priority is the community and the people who live in it.

But for now, we’ll simply say, “Cheers, Wayne County.”

We are looking forward to a wonderful new year and are humbled by your belief in our brand of journalism.

The following stories were the 10 most read pieces on the New Old North site this year (click on the headlines to revisit them):

• Wayne Country Day headmaster resigns amid allegations of misconduct

• GHS principal to white teachers: Check your privilege

• Sometimes you just can’t stay silent

• Bigger than baseball

• A swing … and a missed opportunity

• Life. Changing.

• Realigning our perspective

• Metz resigns as DGDC director